Although the majority of the money raised is used for local needs, Barnstaple Lions are also involved with Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF), which provides money for water wells and to improve hygiene in remote villages in Africa and India (Water Aid), provides doctors and clinics to remove cataracts and restores sight to people in developing countries.
Aid is still being given by LCIF to the Tsunami victims in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India, and the Pakistan and Italian earthquakes. Lions teams are working in Haiti, providing much needed help with tents, food and water. To date in excess of $4.7 million has come in from clubs all over the world for the Haiti disaster, £350,000 from the UK and Ireland alone. Aid is being sent to Pakistan to help in the most recent flooding.
Not all of the LCIF money goes to overseas projects. In the UK funds have helped in the recent flooding in Cumbria and the Midlands, for the Boscastle flood and Children’s Hospice South West.
Did you know that Lions International were the originators of the white cane for the blind? This came from our association with Helen Keller in 1925, who challenged Lions members to become “Knights for the Blind”.
In 1978 the Barnstaple Lions Club started the North Devon Talking Newspaper for the Blind and club members are still actively involved.
Locally we donate to Children’s Hospice South West, North Devon Hospice, Devon Air Ambulance, Exmoor Search and Rescue, North Devon District Hospital and many other deserving charities, individuals and groups.
The six clubs in the North Devon area also annually donate to a local charity or cause. The latest donation was to North Devon Portage Service, a group dedicated to helping special needs children to integrate into mainstream schooling. Previous years resulted in a special needs tricycle for Calvert Trust Exmoor, an ice making machine to North Devon Hospice and a purpose-designed workstation for the children’s ward at North Devon District Hospital.
Welfare